STOCKTON - If you shoot a gun in Stockton police jurisdiction, chances are dispatch operators will hear it from miles away - likely before a caller reports the gunfire.

Sensors that pick up the sound of gunshots and an approximate location have been strategically placed across the city.

Stockton police have been using the technology for about six months under a testing period, and the department is ready to talk results.

Police Chief Eric Jones is expected to give an overview of the new ShotSpotter Flex service in a news conference Tuesday.

Also to speak: Ralph Clark, chief executive officer of SST Inc., the company that developed the program; and Special Agent In Charge Joe Riehl of the federal Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agency.

"Stockton police have prioritized the public safety and security of Stockton residents and visitors as a major initiative and have invested in the community by deploying the ShotSpotter Flex service as a key technology to support its work in combating gun violence," a statement from the department said.

In a sneak preview, communications supervisor Phillip Zimmerman demonstrated to media on Friday how the program works.

Zimmerman played various previously recorded incidents that included rapid-fire shots.

Sensors around Stockton record the sound bites and send the audio to the dispatch center in downtown Stockton along with data of the general radius location, Zimmerman explained. Each operator station is programmed with software that alerts staff and provides the data.

The system differentiates between actual gunshots and other similar sounds, such as fireworks, and the vendor company also monitors activity and imbeds messages in the incident reports if the sounds are likely something other than gunshots.

"If we get additional calls from citizens, it will be supplemented into that call," Zimmerman said. "Or vice versa. Sometimes the citizens will call in first, and then we get the ShotSpotter."

Zimmerman said the center can go days without gunshot incidents. But there are days when the system picks up several occurrences.

"Four to five is somewhat typical," he said.

ShotSpotter Flex is the nation's leading gunshot locator program, according to Stockton police, and it's widely being used by law enforcement agencies to prevent gun violence and gun-related crime.

The system also promotes intelligent, data-driven policing strategies and operations, according to Stockton police.